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NHA legislative update
LINCOLN—The following "bills of interest" to NHA members have advanced. The NHA's position is listed behind each bill number,
as well as the bill description and current status.
-
LB 735 -
(Monitor) Adopt the Kelsey Smith Act to require wireless carriers to provide call location information in certain emergency situations.
Passed on final reading on 3/11/10.
-
LB 908 - (Monitor) Change workers' compensation provisions relating to claims for legal services or disbursements. Placed on General File on 3/11/10.
-
LB 999 - (Support) Provide a two-year moratorium on new hospital licenses . Advanced
to General File on
3/10/10.
-
LB 1055 - (Monitor) Change provisions relating to extended unemployment benefits. Advanced to General File on 3/11/10.
-
LB 1110 -
(Support) Change provisions relating to coverage for certain children under the Medical Assistance Program as prescribed.
Placed on General File on 3/9/10.
Bills of interest the NHA members that have been indefinitely
postponed include:
-
LB 833 - (Monitor) Provide for confidentiality of Nebraska Workers' Compensation Court records.
-
LB
846- (Monitor) Change interest rate provisions for certain Nebraska Workers' Compensation Court awards.
-
LB 963 - (Monitor) Change Nebraska Workers' Compensation Act provisions governing disability compensation after retirement.
-
LB 1044 - (Monitor) Change employer liability provisions under the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Act.
Click here to view the NHA 2010 Bills of Interest Summary. For additional
legislative updates, visit www.nhanet.org.
If you would like to share your perspective on a particular bill, please contact Bruce Rieker, Vice
President, Advocacy, at (402) 742-8146 or
brieker@nhanet.org.
—
Nebraska Hospital Association, March 12, 2010
NHA 2010 Advocacy Day review
LINCOLN—The Nebraska Hospital Association (NHA) hosted another very successful Advocacy Day Tuesday, with more than 200 health care advocates filling the Cornhusker Marriott in Lincoln.
The group heard remarks from Governor Heineman and Kerry Winterer, CEO,
Department of Health and Human Services. AHA Regional Executive Paul Muraca
provided the attendees with the latest federal update and NHA Director of
Communications Kelley Porter discussed effective communication with legislators
and workforce shortage issues, as well as a summary of the 2009 Nebraska
Hospitals Community Benefits Report.
Bruce Rieker, NHA Vice President, Advocacy, briefed advocates on the issues of
the day, including LB 999, LB 1110 and concerns over the state budget and
reimbursements.
LB 999 would establish a two-year moratorium on the issuance of a license for any new hospital, excepting critical access hospitals (CAHs).
This bill would provide time for the Legislature to review the myriad of issues involved when a specialty or physician-owned hospital seeks to open in any Nebraska community.
LB 1110 would change prenatal care provisions. Introduced by Senator Kathy Campbell, the bill would require DHHS to implement a separate program under CHIP for unborn children of mothers who are ineligible for coverage under Medicaid. Long-term benefits of prenatal care include healthier pregnancies, fewer complications at delivery, healthier children and greater cost savings in the long run.
Faced with a projected state budget shortfall of well over $650 million going into the next biennium budget cycle, Nebraska will be forced to make significant cuts in all areas of government spending, including Medicaid. Those cuts will ultimately result in greater hospital subsidization for Medicare and Medicaid, a wider gap between costs and reimbursements and an increase in charity care. Leveraging state resources to maximize benefits for beneficiaries, providers and the state’s economy should be carefully considered.
Advocacy Day is important for Nebraska hospitals as it connects advocates one-to-one with their legislators and reminds legislators of the issues hospitals face while providing quality care to their communities.
Click here to view the NHA
Advocacy Day page and the list of sponsors that helped make the event
successful.
—
Nebraska Hospital Association, March 12, 2010
Nebraska's federal lawmakers urge CMS to revise physician
supervision requirements
The Nebraska Hospital Association (NHA) thanks our
congressional delegation for sending letters to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services (CMS) regarding the physician supervision requirements contained in the
Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) final rule for calendar years 2009
and 2010. The
letter from Senator Nelson and the
letter from Senator Johanns and Representatives Fortenberry, Smith and Terry
both urge the Department of Health and Human Services to rescind or revise these
requirements.
—
Nebraska Hospital Association, March 12, 2010
Hospital moratorium bill advanced
LINCOLN—Health and Human Services Committee members
advanced LB 999 to General File on March 10.
LB 999
would direct the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services not to accept
applications or issue licenses for new hospitals, except critical access hospitals, from September 1, 2010 through August 31, 2012.
During this period, the Legislature could study the status of hospital development and future
implications for the state of Nebraska.
—
Nebraska Hospital Association, March 12, 2010
Around the Rotunda: Added school funding could affect proposed prenatal bill
LINCOLN—The Appropriations Committee on Thursday put out several much-discussed budget bills that are expected to be debated by the Legislature next week.
Earlier this week, the committee thought spending for state aid to schools would be up $15 million. Appropriations Committee Chairman Lavon Heidemann found out Wednesday it would be up another $3 million to $18 million. That could have an effect on a controversial bill coming up later this session.
Read more.
—
Lincoln Journal Star, March 12, 2010
WASHINGTON— House and Senate Democratic leaders struggled to stitch together pieces of a final health care bill as some Democrats demanded more information about the contents of the bill and its cost, the
New York Times reports. Lawmakers said they had received few details about what would be in the legislation. They were also not given the text of the latest legislation drafted by House and Senate Democratic leaders and the White House to address widespread concerns about the bill passed by the Senate in December, the
Times reports.
Read
more.
—
New York Times, March 11, 2010
WASHINGTON—House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Friday that the public health insurance option will not be included in a package of fixes to health care reform legislation.
Pelosi's comments throw a wrench into liberal efforts to reintroduce it to the bill. She shut the door on a possible pathway opened by Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), who said earlier on Friday that he would "aggressively" push senators to vote for the plan if the House included it in the fixes.
Read more.
— The Hill, March 12, 2010
WASHINGTON—While hospitals account for one-third of the health care dollar, spending on hospital care has grown more slowly than spending on other health care services, according to a new
American Hospital Association (AHA)
report. The report examines the sources of growth in spending on patient care in hospitals. Findings included:
- Spending for hospital care rose by 4.5 percent between 2007 and 2008, far less than health insurance premiums
- Rising costs to hospitals for the goods and services purchased to provide care accounted for 64 percent of overall growth in spending on hospital care from 2004 to 2008, while rising demand for care accounted for about 34 percent
- Growth in labor costs was the single most important factor driving up the cost of hospital care, accounting for about 35 percent of overall growth and more than half of the growth in the costs of purchased goods and services.
— American Hospital Association, March 2010
For more information about health-related
legislative bills or resolutions, contact: Bruce Rieker, Vice President,
Advocacy, at (402) 742-8146 or
brieker@nhanet.org.
NHA Rotunda Review is published by the Nebraska Hospital
Association, 3255 Salt Creek Circle, Lincoln, NE 68504. Phone (402) 742-8140,
Fax (402) 742-8191. Visit our Web site at
www.nhanet.org. Kelley Porter, editor, at (402) 742-8151, or email,
kporter@nhanet.org.
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